City Church (LoveHopeCity): Recent Episodes
City Church (LoveHopeCity)
What if waiting is one of the biggest ways God actually works in our lives? That’s what we’re going to be looking at today as we start our journey through King David’s life. Open a Bible to 1 Samuel and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
In this heartfelt continuation of our series on Lisa’s journey with Alopecia, Pastor Samuel Picou opens up about his own journey with the condition and how he was on The Voice, released his new book, and had met Pastor Lisa at Disneyland and how it was the start to a friendship with Pastor Kyle and his family. This podcast episode is a testament to faith and resilience in the face of adversity. Join us for this inspiring conversation that explores the power of God!
We're joined today by special guest comedian Nazareth with a message from 2 Kings 18-19 titled "The Siege."
On episode 8 of Digging Deeper, Carl Palmer shares about growing up as a "pastor's kid," his faith journey, and what led him to City Church.
All of us have desires which we long to see God fulfill. Whether that's happiness, more money, influence, relationship, kids, there is a Godly way to fulfill our desires and an instant gratification way. The Godly way usually involves waiting, self-denial, delayed gratification, and long term blessing. The other way scratches the itch now and the sore continues to grow. Open a Bible to 2 Kings 5 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We're joined today by Pastor Lisa Toney with a message on change. We are constantly bombarded with people, things and situations that require us to change our attitude from anger, hurt, jealousy, rage and frustration to forgiveness, patience, and love. Jesus brings unbelievable change to our lives so that we can show up better for the people and things that matter most. Open a Bible and follow along!
Open a Bible to Isaiah 52 and follow along with Pastor Obie on the Great Commission and how all of us can be a bringer of good news.
Our job as Christians is to learn how to navigate the waters God saw fit to have us live in. One of the hardest waters to navigate as a Christian are the hard topics in the bible. Jesus had some hard sayings and we'll see how he handled one of them today. Open a Bible to John 6:60-71 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We're joined today by guest speaker Dr. Willie Nolte with a message on how to combat "Grasshopper Theology." Open a Bible to Numbers 13 and follow along!
With over half of the year gone, Pastor Obie shares what is needed to make a successful comeback and accomplishing our goals in 2023. Open a Bible and follow along!
On Episode 7 of Digging Deeper, Pastors Obie, Lisa and Kyle reflect on Deuteronomy 30:19-20 in an attempt to create a sermon with no prior preparation. Can they do it!?
Join us for a special message on salvation from our guest speaker, Pastor Wayne Palmer. You won't want to miss it!
Today we’re going to see the story of Solomon dedicating the Temple to God in the sight of all the Levites the Priests, and all the people. Open a Bible to 2 Corinthians 7 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Join us for a time of worship and a message from Pastor Kyle. Open up a Bible to James 1:19-25 as we focus on "four small communication insights that will transform your life."
In this episode of Digging Deeper, President/CEO of the Anaheim Family YMCA Brent Finlay shares about the Christian roots of the YMCA and his own personal story.
Join us for a Father's Day sermon inspired by the Prodigal Son's Father. Discover the incredible love, forgiveness, and compassion showcased in Luke 15. Let's honor fathers, learn valuable lessons on unconditional love, patience, second chances, and reconciliation. Open a Bible and follow along with Pastor Obie!
Our lives don’t often seem like God is giving us the desires of our hearts. There’s always some aspect of dissatisfaction, disappointment, or frustration with something that is happening in our lives. God wants us to trust that His Word is true even when our lives don’t perfectly reflect that reality. Open a Bible to Psalm 37 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Join Pastor Kyle for the final message of our "Life and Ministry of Jesus" series. Open a Bible to the Book of John and follow along!
We are joined today on Pentecost Sunday by Dr. Willie Nolte. Open a Bible to the book of Acts and follow along!
As we prepare ourselves for the Christmas season, Pastor Wayne shares a sermon on the history and purpose of Advent.
As we come to the end of our 2nd Californians series, Pastor Kyle shares how God’s power can and will be made perfect in our lives through our imperfections. Open a Bible to 2 Corinthians 11 and follow along!
Our digital notes are available online at lovehopecity.com/notes.
Join us for "Heritage Sunday" as we celebrate 100 years of ministry from the corner of Broadway and Citron in Anaheim, CA.
The concept of someone “being in your corner” comes from boxing. It’s the idea that your coach/support team are the ones in your corner encouraging you to keep fighting in between the rounds. This how we should think about spiritual warfare, no matter how tough the battle gets we’ve got Jesus in our corner. God doesn’t promise that we won’t go through battles, he promises that He is with us in the midst of them. Open a Bible to 2 Corinthians and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today at City Church we're joined by Dr. William Nolte from Transformation Ministries with a sermon on generosity.
Have you ever wondered what you would do if you could completely restart your life? For most situations, a new chapter where you move away and move on just isn’t possible or realistic at all. Often what we really need in that strained relationship, challenging job situation, or even in church when we don’t feel connected isn’t to move on from it but rather to start a new chapter within it, sometimes again and again... Open a Bible to 2nd Corinthians 7 and follow along with Pastor Kyle as we explore how to start a new chapter in our challenging relationships.
Our digital notes are available online at lovehopecity.com/notes.
Pastor Kyle shares a message on what it means to be yoked (biblically). Open a Bible to 2nd Corinthians 6:14-7:1 and follow along!
Pastor Obie unpacks what it looks like to Be a Barrier Breaker for the Gospel of Jesus in todays world. Open a Bible to 2nd Corinthians 6:1-13 and follow along!
Christianity is the most blessed reality for all of us who call Jesus the Lord of our lives. The longer a person walks with God, the more they realize following Christ means taking up a cross daily and following Him. Christianity comes with a calling and following Jesus comes with the responsibility of representing Him to our world. Open a Bible to 2nd Corinthians 5:11-21 and follow along!
Today at City Church, Pastor Kyle shares what heavenly living means for believers TODAY. Open a bible to 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 and follow along!
Today at City Church we are continuing our "2nd Californians" series with a message from Pastor Obie on perspective. Open a bible to 2 Corinthians 4 and follow along!
Today at City Church we’re going to look at what the calling to be a minister of the New Covenant means. Open a Bible to 2 Corinthians 3 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today at City Church we're joined again by Pastor Wayne Palmer with some lessons on leadership from the Prophet Elijah. Open a bible and follow along!
Today we’re going to come to a passage of Scripture that compares the Christian life to walking in a triumphal procession with Jesus. In this triumphal parade, disciples share in His glory as well as His sufferings and it only ends one way... Open a Bible to 2nd Corinthians 2:12-16 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today at City Church we’re continuing on with our new series 2nd Californians with a message on disappointment. Open a bible to 2 Corinthians and follow along with Pastor Obie!
Today at City Church we’re going to start a brand new study on 2nd Corinthians. Open a bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle!
The fight for significance in this world is nothing new. In biblical times, it looked like sitting on a throne (or being as close as possible to the person sitting on a throne). It was an early version of a class system which determined how far they got in life. Jesus spoke four words into that world that were countercultural and revolutionary. Open a Bible to Mark 10:32-45 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Join us today as Pastor Obie shares the top 10 reasons why we serve God and the Church. Open a Bible and follow along!
Today at City Church we are going to take a look back at Jesus’ promise to build His Church. Open a Bible to Matthew 16 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today at City Church we have a special guest speaker, Pastor Wayne Palmer.
Open a bible to John 9 and follow along!
Open a Bible to John 8:31-38 and follow along with Pastor Obie as he shares three steps to rid ourselves of sinful habits and start living freely through Him.
The problem with a lot of teachings out there on the internet and the “positivity Christianity” culture is that it’s incomplete. When our life doesn’t measure up to the positive story, we’re tempted to feel like we’ve been sold a batch of bad goods. The good news is that the hope of the Bible is something you can take to the grave. Even when it doesn’t make sense, it still produces vital growth in us when we trust in God through it. Open a Bible to Romans 5 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Jesus’ parting words to his disciples in Matthew 28 were to go and make disciples of all the nations. It’s been referred to as the Great Commission and lot of Christians get nervous about this topic. Most people never wind up doing it and the Great Commission becomes the Great “OMISSION.” We’re going to start with a great story in the book of Acts from some of the earliest days of Christianity. Open a Bible to Acts 4 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Pastor Obie shares wisdom from an unlikely character in the Old Testament in a timely message for this current generation called "The God Who Sees Me". Open a Bible to Genesis 16 and follow along.
We are going to dive into a story from the Old Testament, the Tower of Babel. This text was written thousands of years ago but it still speaks to us today. Open a Bible to Genesis 11 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We're joined today by guest speaker Pastor Lisa Toney with a message about being disrupted by the love of God and how to speak love and show love to those around us.
In honor of Mother's Day, we're going to dive into one of Pastor Kyle's favorite mom stories in the Bible about Jochebed – Moses’ mom. Inside her belly was the greatest Kingdom advancement of the entire Israelite nation in 400 years, she just didn’t know it yet. All she knew was that she was about to raise a child in some crazy times. Open a Bible to Exodus 2 and follow along.
We invited a guest speaker, Pastor Chris Hilken, to share a message on how to handle serious doubts/mental health issues as a Christian.
Pastor Kyle takes the opportunity to speak on 2nd Kings 5. It’s the story of a very successful Syrian Army Commander who gets very sick which takes him on a journey to Israel to find healing. Naaman’s journey to Israel led to one of the best transformation stories in all of the Old Testament. We’re going to look at Naaman’s transformation story to unpack what transformation looks like in our tricky world today.
It’s easy to lose sight of the things we deeply believe, even the relationships that matter the most. There are a million reasons why and all of them result in us feeling like we’re drowning in life. Slowly but surely, we start living for this worldly kingdom rather than God’s Heavenly Kingdom. Have you been there? Even a subtle loss of Kingdom focus is often a precursor to questioning whether our labor for the Lord is worth it. Open a bible to 1 Corinthians 15 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today at City Church we’re going to reflect on Paul’s parting words to the Corinthian Church. He connects their little speck of God’s Kingdom in Corinth to what God was doing in the broader area of churches in the Mediterranean world at the time. Paul was giving the Corinthians context for how the Kingdom was advancing beyond their church. Because of that, we are going to talk about what it looks like to be a “Kingdom Minded Christian.” Open a Bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Reminders can be annoying but they can be very helpful since we are so prone to forget. We all need those littles reminder to keep us on track. When a person first becomes a Christian, God steps in and changes everything. The power of the Gospel is obvious. Unfortunately overtime the significance of the Gospel in our daily life can slip into the background a bit. We need to be reminded of the Gospel and we need to remind one another. Open a Bible to 1st Corinthians and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We are coming to to the Bible’s foremost passage on what the apostle Paul refers to as the “higher gifts” which are prophecy and tongues. We’re going to look at what 1 Corinthians 14 says about the higher spiritual gifts and what some other parts of the Bible say about it as well. Open a Bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
What we’re going to talk about today is not the “same old, same old.” We’re going to look at the power of the same reminder of God’s grace that has existed for the last 2,000 years of church history – communion. Open a bible to 1 Corinthians 10 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
This week Pastor Obie unpacks 1 Corinthians 12 in a message called “You Have a Part to Play.” Open a bible and follow along!
Last week, we shared a message on love from the first half of 1 Corinthians 13. Today we're going to explore the rest of verses in this passage. Open a bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle!
Today we are going to dive into 1 Corinthians 13 about how to love God and love people. Open a bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We are excited to announce that comedian Nazareth spoke at City Church this past Sunday. Expect to laugh and be encouraged from God’s Word.
Your life is a marathon, not a sprint. There might be sprints you run from time to time but the goal of life isn’t to just go super-fast in spurts and peter out. The goal of the Christian life is to run this race in such a way that you will WIN in the end. Today we’re going to look at what it means to WIN in the Christian life every day and IN THE END. Open a bible to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We are continuing our series titled 1st Californians with Pastor Obie in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. Open up a bible and follow along!
We are continuing our series titled 1st Californians with Pastor Obie in 1 Corinthians 9:1-18. Open up a bible and follow along!
We are returning to our “1st Californians” series after a brief hiatus. In the previous few chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul had been dealing with several different moral issues in the church. Now the tone is about to shift to something even more important – the way of love. Today we’re going to start seeing how love is the cornerstone of everything for a Christian. Open a bible to 1 Corinthians 8 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today, we’re all going to take a personal inventory of our lives to start the year off. This is not going to be a “verse-by-verse” teaching kind of sermon. If you’re into that, we’ll get back to that next week. But for today we are going to take this personal inventory exercise together right here and right now. Grab our digital bulletin and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We are joined today by Dr. William Nolte of Transformation Ministries. Open a bible to Matthew 1:18-25 and follow along!
Our digital notes are available at lovehopecity.com/notes.
In this sermon we’re going to look at the second half of Mary’s story on the Journey to Jesus. She was blessed and highly favored by God but today we’re going to see that “blessed” did not mean “easy.”…AT ALL! Open a bible to Luke 1:39-56 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We are going pivot to a Christmas “Mini-Series” called “The Journey to Jesus.” As we look at the story of Jesus’ birth, we are going to first examine Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel to see what it teaches us about how divine favor should look on the inside. There were some character qualities in Mary here that made her the ideal candidate to carry the Son of God and to be called “Blessed and highly favored.” Open a Bible to Luke Luke 1:26-38 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Join us as Pastor Obie and Joyce Obien share personal insight on how to communicate and "win" a relational conflict.
Join us as Pastor Obie continues in our series through 1 Corinthians unpacking chapter 7 and what the Bible says about biblical sex, marriage, Divorce and singleness.
When it comes to dealing with conflict, a couple of old sayings come to mind. One is “Don’t air your dirty laundry.” The other is “Keep it in the family.” Both remain incredibly relevant to all of us today as well. The section we’re going to look at today is sandwiched in the narrative we talked about last week related to sexual immorality. It’s almost like an “aside” where the Apostle Paul remembered he also wanted to address this while talking about something else. In the middle of talking about sexual morality, Paul addresses how Christians should handle extreme cases of disagreements amongst themselves. We’re going to see him encourage the Corinthian Church to “keep it in the family.” Open a bible to 1st Corinthians 6:1-8 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
When we kicked off the 1 Corinthians series, it was mentioned that we would eventually get to one of the biggest chapters on sexual immorality in the entire New Testament. As we delve into this topic, put it in your mind and in your heart that God is coming from the perspective of the best dad ever. He’s not here to make you feel bad for things you’ve done and He’s not a buzzkill trying to take the fun out of your life. He’s here as a loving Father trying to set His kids up for true success in relationships, in life, and in marriage. The reason? You are precious to God. He loves us more than we’ll ever know and He always wants the very best for us. We are the ones who sell ourselves short of His best. Open a Bible to 1 Corinthians 5 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We’ve all heard the old saying that “a picture is a thousand words.” Words are also very powerful but pictures show us the “lived out” meaning of the words. Some of the most poignant and popular passages of Scripture use word pictures to show us what God is like and helps us understand how we are to respond as a result. Today we’re going to see Paul wrap up three chapters worth of issues in 1st Corinthians with three word pictures. Open a bible to 1st Corinthians 4:1-21 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
It’s not an accident you’re here. We are all a part of the HUGE STORY of God’s Kingdom expanding in our midst. We’re part of the story of God’s Church, and each of our individual stories are connected to that. We are the men and women of God that future generations will never know who will sacrifice to build upon the foundation that’s been established here. Open a Bible to 1st Corinthians 3:10-23 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We are continuing our series titled 1st Californians with Pastor Obie in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Open up a bible and follow along!
Everyone is looking for some “secret” or “hidden” knowledge to give them an edge in life. Lots of movies have a plotline that involves a “secret” of mystic or borderline divine origins that has the power to transform a person’s life. People will search for hidden meaning all over the place to try and figure out the meaning of their own lives but will often look everywhere but to the God of the Bible who lays everything out plainly. It’s the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all. He died for us, promises to forgive us of our sins, to adopt us into His family, to fill us with His Holy Spirit, and to give us an eternal life beyond anything we could ask for or imagine. That’s it. Open a bible to 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
When someone is perishing (or feels like they are), they’re often frantic and they panic. In a panic to save your life, you’ll reach for anything that might save you. If you want to live, you’ve got to slow your mind down and make sure you grab the right thing. Sometimes the right thing to grab feels wrong and crazy but in these kinds of moments is sometimes exactly what we need to survive. So, the RIGHT kind of crazy is exactly what we need to pull us through a crisis. In that way, the right kind of crazy actually isn’t crazy at all. Today we’re going to see the Apostle Paul talk about God’s wisdom vs. the wisdom of the world. Open a bible to 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
As we continue through our new series through 1st Corinthians, Pastor Obie will share a timely message on how to live in harmony with one another during one of the most divided times in history.
Today we’re starting a new series titled “1st Californians.” The similarities between ancient Corinth during the first century and California/Orange County in 2021 are unbelievably striking. Grab a bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle as we dive into 1st Corinthians together.
Here’s the big “what if…” question for you. What if we switched our mindset about hard things in our lives from “I can’t do that” to “it’s possible”? God might just want to unlock some amazing things in each of us. Open a Bible to Matthew 17 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Join us for a special message from Melissa Ferguson as she shares her story of finding the hope of Christ in cancer.
One of the foremost passages in all of the Bible that unpacks how Christians should defend themselves from spiritual warfare is found in Ephesians. The Apostle Paul built a whole teaching around the illustration of a Roman soldier and their armor to discuss the spiritual armor that believers need to put on daily. Most of us have seen an image of this armor in a history book, on television or in church growing up, associated with this passage. Open a Bible to Ephesians 6:10-20 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Yet again, we’re facing uncertain times with no end in sight. Most of us have endured more stress and pressure in the last year and a half than we can ever remember. The entire world is living in an ongoing uncertainty with no clear end in sight. The stress can be paralyzing if we sit there and stare at the circumstances. That’s not how God wants any of us to live our lives, He wants us to keep pressing on and keep moving forward. So how do we do that in the midst of un-ending uncertainty? Open a Bible to John 15 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today we’re going to take a 30,000-foot view of what the entire Bible says about the concepts of happiness and holiness. This isn't going to be a “God doesn’t want me to be happy” kind of a message. We're going to look at what’s most important from God’s perspective and what leads to the longest form of happiness from both an earthly as well as a biblical/eternal perspective. Open a Bible and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Not every Christian is called to be an evangelist but every Christian is called to evangelize. So, what is the most effective method of fulfilling this calling? Today we are going to learn the method of how Jesus and the early church evangelized. This is the story of how they grew from a small group of believers into something that would flip the Roman Empire on its head and change the world. Open a bible and follow along with Pastor Obie.
Faith and wisdom are like the right and left hand of every believer, some of you are right hand dominant and some of you are left hand dominant. Christians tend to be either “wisdom-driven/dominant” or “faith-driven/dominant.” The longer we walk with Jesus, we learn that we’re stronger when we’re using both together. The fire of faith combined with the power of an informed, Godly mind is what makes a healthy Christian. and a healthy Church. It’s never one or the other. Open a bible to Hebrews 11 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
We’re going to talk about how to stand out and above the grime in this world and how to present ourselves as a sweet aroma that draws others in. As with many of the principles in the Kingdom of God, making a Gospel impact in this world is counter-intuitive as well. Open a bible to 1 Timothy 2 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
In life, we live in a constant state of longing. There is an “incompleteness” to everything that happens, everything we have, and everything we do on this side of Heaven. When you finally “climb the mountain” it feels great, like you’ve accomplished something… but all you see is another side of the mountain you still need to climb. We’re going to see the Apostle Paul's holy longing of wanting to reach Rome to preach to a fledgling church there. Open a bible to Romans 1 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today’s message is going to be a bit of a “road trip.” After returning from a two week trip, Pastor Kyle shares a few lessons that he rediscovered while on vacation.
Join us for a special 4th of July Service as Pastor Obie interviews Elijah Reyes from the hit musical Hamilton.
We're joined by Dr. William Nolte of Transformation Ministries.
Open a Bible to John 1:35-51 and follow along!
For Father’s Day 2021, Pastor Kyle felt led to teach on the story of the Prodigal Son. There are elements of this story that really ring true for parents who have wayward children and for anyone who has personally wandered off from God or from Christianity for a season. However, this story is way bigger than those two groups of folks who appreciate it for personal reasons. At its core, this story paints a picture of God’s heart and how He sees us in our sin. It also shows us how we are to view others who are struggling with or are lost in sin and how we are to view the grace of God when we feel we were faithful all along and someone else got a free pass. As we look at the Faithful Father’s heart, we gain a glimpse of how we are to respond as a result. Open a bible to Luke 15 and follow along.
As the events of 2020-2021 unfolded, many of us rediscovered a simple life is as satisfying as God promised. Many of us have rediscovered satisfaction at home, in our loved ones, in quiet moments, and ultimately in the Lord. We truly have everything we need. Open a bible to Psalm 23 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today we're going to take a closer look what it means to truly be "the salt of the earth." Open a bible to Matthew 5:13 and follow along with Pastor Obie.
Today we are joined by Wayne Palmer who was the pastor of Freedom Bible Church in Anaheim for 30 years. Pastor Wayne and his family started attending City Church a few years back and we are grateful to share the stage with him for a message on the importance of our personal testimony.
After living under lockdown for so long, I think it’s safe to say we’re all feeling a fresh dose of hope. At the same time, it’s kind of a “cautious optimism” hope and maybe even a “waiting for the other shoe to drop” kind of hope. At the beginning of March 2020 lockdown Pastor Kyle talked about Noah, his family, and the animals entering the ark. Spending one year of their lives in full blown lockdown, one year of celebrations missed altogether and modified, one year of sadness and loss. This was also a year to reconsider what’s most important ending with a new beginning. Sound familiar? Open a Bible to Genesis 8:18-9:1 and follow along with Pastor Kyle as we learn what Noah and his family did when they finally exited the ark.
Today we come to the life and death of a legend. Moses was arguably the greatest historical leader up until Jesus Christ himself. Moses laid the foundation for our faith and his greatness didn’t come from himself. He was used by God to set up and implement the system Jesus would ultimately come and fulfill. We can’t conceive of our faith without Moses because he’s that pivotal to God’s redemption story. Open a bible to Deuteronomy 30 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
When it comes to our kids, that phrase “Mama bear/Papa bear” kicks in. We are all instinctively protective of our kids and yet today we’re going to come to a story in the Bible where a mom appears to have put her kids’ life in danger. Depending upon how you read the story, what she did was either a very dangerous gamble with her child’s life or a genius plan to save him. We're talking about Jochebed, Moses’ mom. Open a bible to Exodus 2 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
There is tremendous power in prayer and even more power in interceding for others in prayer before God. We’re going to see how Moses did that for these rebellious Israelites and how God calls us to do the same as believers. Open a bible to Exodus 33-34 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Open a bible to Exodus chapter 32 and follow along with Pastor Obie. We're going to see how the Israelites, through guidance from Aaron, commit idolatry and the consequences that follow upon Moses' return from the mountain.
The greatest achievements usually don’t happen overnight, they happen “little by little.” Many of us are feeling stuck in our lives these days. You’re frustrated by where you are. You see others in places you want to be accomplishing goals you hope to achieve that aren’t happening for you. You feel like something is wrong with you. You feel like the thing you’ve been praying for isn’t going to happen. We hope this message encourages you about God’s plan for your life. Open a bible to Exodus chapter 23 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today we’re coming to one of the most famous sections of the entire Old Testament and definitely the whole Bible as well, the 10 Commandments. On the one hand, everyone has at least heard of the 10 commandments but on the other hand, how many of you could actually recite them? Open a bible to Exodus chapter 20 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
He has risen! He has risen INDEED! On this special Resurrection Sunday, we'll be looking at "Easter in Exodus." Just like there are some human experiences that are so foundational to who we are, the book of Exodus is the bottom Jenga block in the Word of God in terms of who God is, who God’s people are, and how God’s people are supposed to relate to God.
Today we join Pastor Kyle in Exodus 19. This is the beginning of a series of events where Moses goes up and down Mount Horeb to meet with God, receive the Law, and instruct the people how they are to live as children of God. Exodus has shown us that the Israelites had already been observing some of the practices associated with Jewish law but this defining meeting between Moses and God would codify in writing what it meant to be the people of God. One massive difference between Christians today and the Israelites then is that we don’t depend on any human being to be our intercessor with God. We have Jesus our great intercessor, and because of Him, we can go boldly before the throne of grace with confidence. That being said, Exodus 19 offers some thoughts for us to consider before we go and meet with God.
Last week, we saw how Moses’ friends held up his arms so the Israelites could win their first “Post-Pharaoh” battle against the Amalekites. Today we’re going to see Moses learn a life and leadership lesson the hard way and his father-in-law Jethro shows up. Jethro goes on to give Moses some much-needed advice on how to set himself up for long-term success. We’re also going to see how his Pagan priest of a father-in-law Jethro converts to a belief in the Lord. Open a bible to Exodus 18 and follow along with Pastor Kyle as we learn how to set ourselves up for more success in the long term and less burnout.
There will be days when we all go to bed feeling burnt out, that’s a reality. The question is: what do we do with those feelings and how do we turn those emotions around when we experience them? We’re going to see that Moses needed support from his friends to win the battle. The people had been through so much difficulty and yet they still had new, exhausting battles to fight. Open a bible to Exodus 17 and follow along with Pastor Kyle as we learn how to set ourselves up for more success in the long term and less burnout.
Provision takes many different forms throughout our lives. It can be the meeting of an emotional need, relational need, physical need, a financial need, or really any kind of need that comes up. Ultimately, all forms of provision come from God meeting a SPIRITUAL need. Every earthly need is connected to a deeper spiritual need under the surface. That’s why the Word “provision” really gets to the foundation of the fact that God is the PROVIDER for His people. Open a bible to the book Exodus and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
After the bitterness of the past 400 years the Israelites finally had hope of better, sweeter days ahead... or so they thought. The reality we’re going to see today is that even after they were free from Pharaoh’s hold, many bitter obstacles lay ahead of them in the wilderness. Open a bible to Exodus 15 and follow along with Pastor Kyle.
Today at City Church we are going going to see the absolute climax of the book of Exodus – the crossing of the Red Sea. The same God who had delivered the children of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh would now lead them into what seemed like a trap. The Israelites would face the choice to question this God or to trust this God. Really… it’s the same choice we face every single day. The way God worked THEN is the way God works NOW. Just like the Israelites had to trust God in this climactic battle, we have to trust the same God every day. It’s a new battle but it’s the same God.
Today at City Church we have a special Valentine’s Day themed message featuring Dr. Willie Nolte and his wife Joy.
If you haven’t seen Groundhog Day, it’s a movie about being STUCK in life. Who hasn’t ever felt stuck in life? I’m pretty confident that we’re all there to one degree or another right now. God want us to learn about Him, His Word, others and ourselves from this ordeal we’ve lived through so we can get out of this "Groundhog Day" His way.
Today We’re going to look at the plagues of the Exodus. Make no mistake, it was an all-out FIGHT between God and Pharaoh. Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites had to endure the PAIN of this so Moses took the only choice he had: TO KEEP FIGHTING WITH GOD.
We're joined today by inspirational comedian Nazareth to share five things we can do when the unexpected takes longer than expected.
As we return to Exodus 7, we are going to see God call Moses to go back to confront Pharaoh yet again. So far, Moses’ track record of “victory” is pretty low when it comes to these kinds of confrontations and yet, he was still on the path to victory. Sometimes winning with God feels like losing in the world. My prayer for us today is that we would peel away from the pages of Exodus and look deep into our own lives. Some of you watching this may not feel like you’re being victorious right now. May we all get a sense of how to respond when winning with God feels like losing in the world.
If you’re not familiar with the prayer of Jabez, it’s a powerful verse that’s sandwiched in the middle of 1st Chronicles. This prayer essentially matches up with what every person wants in life. Books have been written about it, some of you might have it memorized and for others of you, this might be the first time you are hearing this.
We know 2020 was the “canceled year.” What about 2021? Is it going to be another year where everything is canceled again? Well, we can’t control that. Believe it or not, your 2021 doesn’t have to be canceled. There might be elements of it that still aren’t anywhere near what any of us would wish but I want to all of us today to think about creating a cancel-proof plan for the year.
"We’ve all learned what it means to long for something… to wait for something… and to hope for something in a way we probably never have before. I believe the events of 2020 have given us all a unique emotional glimpse into the world Jesus was born into. We’re going to look at what happened 2000 years ago when an angel of the Lord announced that God was sending Jesus, 'The Shot of Hope,' into the world." - Pastor Kyle
Egypt wasn’t a place you wanted to go to, it wasn’t a place God wanted his people to live, and it wasn’t a place you wanted to be from. At the same time, the biblical concept of Egypt also meant redemption and hope. God brought His people out of Egypt. Whenever “Egypt” was uttered, it was a reminder that somehow, some way, the “Egypt’s” of life would never be endless. With God’s mighty hand and His outstretched arm, he would always faithfully rescue His people from Egypt.
Today, we are living in uncertain times, there is no doubt about it. Open a bible to Luke 2:22-38 and you'll see the uncertain times that Joseph and Mary were living through at this point in history. As we read these verses today, I pray we find some glimpses into what it means for us to find hope in the uncertain times we are facing.
We kick off our Advent series with a sermon from Dr. William Nolte from the Book of Matthew on the birth of Jesus.
We join Pastor Kyle in the Book of Exodus as take a look into how a request by Moses and Aaron caused the lives of the Israelites to become harder before things got better.
We join Pastor Kyle in Exodus 4 with some examples on how to keep things from 'going wrong" in our lives.
Today at City Church we join Pastor Kyle as he explores Exodus 3 & 4:1-17 on what it means to "go back to our calling."
Life lessons about finding God’s will from Moses’ failed first shot at leading the Israelites.
Open a Bible to Exodus 1:15-22. We are going to read a story about two Hebrew midwives who were more afraid of God than the horrible king of Egypt. I pray that we would glean insights today about what it looks like for us to fear God in uncertain times.
Today at City Church we join Pastor Kyle as he starts off a new series in the Book of Exodus.
Today we are going to unpack the tiny book of Jude, right before the book of Revelation. Jude is not a detailed story of Jesus’ life like the Gospels. It doesn’t describe the historical growth of the Church like the book of Acts. It’s not an exhaustive theological unpacking of how we are to live like the writings of Paul or even the condensed letters of Peter we just finished. It’s more of a stick figure drawing of the Christian life.
We are joined today by Dr. William Nolte of Transformation Ministries to take a deeper look into God's "Big Picture" plan for the world that stared unfolding before our time and continues to this very day through us.
Today we’re going to close out our 2nd Peter series that we’ve titled “FINAL WORDS” with Peter’s true final words as recorded in the Bible. The last thing Peter wanted every subsequent generation of Christian to keep in mind is the continual importance of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we’re going to look at a doozy of a question: “Are we living in the last days?” In 2nd Peter 3, the Apostle Peter deals with this question as he knew he was living in his last days as he wrote this letter. This past year has caused me to a closer look at whether or not we are living in the End Times and it’s certainly possible that we could be. Even if we’re not, we’re going to see that we’re being asked to live as if we are.
Today we’re going to see Peter talk about false teaching and false teachers. You might have a different picture in your mind about what a false teacher looks like but I tend to think about the extremes. As I prepped for my message, I challenged myself not to think about the extremes but to think about the well-meaning Christians who got wrapped up in false teaching. I want to challenge all of us to do the same. Let’s make this even more personal: how do we make sure we don’t get there?
Pastor Obie shares on the foundational pieces of evidence given to the church in 2 Peter 2:16-21 to strengthen their faith so that they would not falter in the midst of false teachers.
What if I told you that you already have everything you need to be effective in your present life and in your spiritual life? Today we’re going to see a promise from God that we have everything we need to be successful in our lives and to thrive in our walk with God.
Imagine if you knew you were about to die and you only had a few pages to jot down as much as you could pass on to the next generation. What would you say? That was Peter’s situation... Today we'll outline the major themes of the book to give you a “sneak peek” of what is coming in the book of 2nd Peter.
Every Marvel movie ending always gives you just enough to feel satisfied that the story tied up but never quite enough to feel like you know what’s coming next. In the aftermath of one averted crisis you get a glimpse of the next one and you’re left with a haunting desire for more information. In our own case, we are still very much in the middle of the Covid-19 Crisis that has gripped the world but the book of Joel has some words that we will all find very relevant today.
Today we're doing something a bit different... Since we are in between series right now we thought this would be a great opportunity to share a sermon from 2019 titled "Your sorrow will turn into joy." We feel this sermon applies to us right now in a fresh way given the pandemic we are all living through.
We're joined today by Dr. Wille Nolte of Transformation Ministries to wrap up our series in 1st Peter, "Hope in the Storm."
We need to figure out how to manage our own heavy loads better before we can help anyone else with theirs. The Father gives us that ability through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. In these verses, Peter is going to tell us how to take control of what’s going on inside so we can find hope in the storm and live lighter under the same load.
We're going to come to a passage of Scripture that is focused on how elders and pastors of a church are supposed to lead Christ’s church. You might be thinking “This doesn’t apply to me, I'm not a church leader” but in reality it applies to everyone. We all have people we love and we all have people we are involved in caring for and leading.
Pastor Obie shares a portion of scripture in 1st Peter 4 where the Apostle Peter writes a letter to a group of churches that are experiencing a world of hurt, and see how the advice he gives them can benefit us today as well.
Racism isn’t a political issue, it’s a sin issue. It boils down to not being willing to hear someone whose experience is different than yours. Today we’re here to learn to do relationships right by listening to the thoughts and feelings of some beloved friends from our church.
Hope in the Storm: Part 5. In light of everything going on in the world right now, Pastor Kyle shares some insight from 1st Peter 2:11-17.
Hope in the Storm: Part 4. Pastor Kyle shares what it means to be a Royal Priest in 1st Peter 2:1-10.
We look at how God is still moving in amazing, unseen ways. Even when life seems chaotic, stressful, and uncertain, the Lord’s mighty hand is at work.
Pastor Kyle starts a new series from 1st Peter with a message titled "May Grace and Peace Be Multiplied in You."
Week 5 of our #CopingWithCovid19 series. Pastor Kyle references John 21 on how God’s truths can deeply resonate early in our faith, feel trite at times as life progresses, and then hit home in profoundly deeper ways as we grow in our faith.
Week 3 of our #CopingWithCovid19 series. Pastor Kyle shares a few things we should during this time consider from Psalm 63:1-8.
Week 2 of our #CopingWithCovid19 series. Pastor Kyle shares a few lessons on how to cope with Covid-19 through Noah's story in the Book of Genesis.
In this interview between Pastor Kyle & Obie, Pastor Obie shares 3 lessons he learned from being quarantined back in 2016 after contracting the worlds most deadliest disease. The lessons he learned back then are directly applicable to the global crisis we are facing today with COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
We join Pastor Obie in John 18:1-2 as we explore Jesus' last acts of freedom and how we can respond to them.